Device for tapping under pressure a gas containing liquid from a bottle or a can, for instance beer



June 17, 1958 P. DEMARET 2,839,221

DEVICE FOR TAPPING UNDER PRESSURE A GAS CONTAINING LIQUID FROM A BOTTLE OR A CAN, FOR INSTANCE BEER Filed Jan. 50, 1956 United States Patent DEVICE FOR TAPPING UNDER PRESSURE A GAS CONTAINING LIQUID FROM A BO'I'ILE OR A CAN, FOR INSTANCE BEER 5 Claims.

,The present invention relates to a device enabling a gas containing liquid to be tapped under pressure from a bottle or a can, for instance beer, giving it the well known characteristics of beer tapped under pressure from a cask, by formation of a dense and lasting froth on the top of the beer in the glass avoiding a premature discharge of the carbonic acid from the beer.

According to the present invention, the device includes a trocar or bored punch used to pierce the cap of the bottle or top of the can, and means such as a lever, used to force the trocar through the cap or the can top to pierce it so as to let the liquid contained therein squirt under pressure through the open bore of the trocar into a glass or other container.

In order to avoid pressure leakage around the neck of the trocar, the latter is provided with a compressive material washer, forming a leakproof joint in cooperation with the periphery of the hole pierced in the bottle cap or in the can.

Further, in order to perform the function of a bottle opener of removing the bottle cap after tapping out a certain quantity of liquid under pressure through they trocar bore, the lever or other means used to force the trocar through the cap is preferably provided with an element such as a prong which grips under the edge of the cap so as to first give a fulcrum to the device for piercing the cap with the trocar and then remove the cap from the bottle.

In one embodiment of the invention the device comprises a pair of punching pliers a jaw of which carries r the trocar and the other the prong, so that when the pliers are closed after engagement of the prong underneath the edge of the cap, the trocar pierces the bottle cap and after squirting of the liquid through the trocar bore, the cap of the bottle can be removed by a slight upwards movement of the pliers.

According to a further and simpler embodiment of the invention, the trocar and the prong are both'carried by one and the same lever which is used like an ordinary bottle opener, but in two steps, the first step being to force the trocar through the cap and the second step to remove the cap from the bottle.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of examples two embodiments of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a side view partly sectioned of a. pair of punching pliers embodying the invention, and

Figure 2 shows a side view of a device according to the invention in the form of a bottle opener.

The punching pliers (Fig. l) comprise two handles 1 and 2, with jaws 1 and 2', pivoted at 3 and normally pushed apart by a spring blade 4.

A trocar 5 is rigidly mounted on the jaw 1'. The bore 5' of the trocar passes through the jaw 1' and the trocar carries a washer 6, for instance made of rubber, so placed as to cooperate with the edge of the hole pierced by the trocar in the bottle cap 7 thereby to provide a fluid tight joint so that the liquid under pressure squirts solely through the passage 5'.

The other jaw 2 of the punching pliers carries the prong 8 which grips under the lower edge of the cap 7. The prong is attached to the jaw 2' by a screw 9 passing freely through a longitudinal slot 9 of an extension 8 of the prong, so as to enable adjustment of the position of the prong in the longitudinal direction after loosening the screw, according to the diameter of the cap. When tightening the screw 9, the serrations 11 of the prong grip in the corresponding serrations of the jaw 2' and maintain firmly the prong in the desired position of adjustment.

When using the device, the prong 8 is first engaged under the lower edge of the cap 7, for instance when holding the bottle inclined towards the glass to be filled, the trocar is then forced through the cap by closing the punching pliers. When a sufiicient quantity of liquid has squirted out through the trocar bore, a slight leverage movement on the pliers removes the cap from the bottle, thus allowing the remainder of the liquid to be poured out of the bottle into the glass.

In the simplified version of the device shown in Figure 2, the trocar 12 carrying a fluid tight joint 13 similar to the washer 6 in Fig. 1 and is mounted at the end of the bottle opener lever 14 carrying the prong 15. The penetration of the trocar 12 into the bottle cap 7 is obtained by pivoting the lever 34 around the fulcrum point fixed by the prong 15 about the edge of the cap 7. Once penetration has occurred, the trocar itself becomes the new fulcrum of the lever and by continuation of the upwards movement on the lever, the prong removes the cap from the bottle.

Other versions of the device are of course possible, for instance the fulcrum of the lever can be obtained by means of a fork mating the shape of the bottle neck and resting on the latter, or the prong could bear on or against a different part of the bottle.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A device for tapping pressurized liquid containers comprising handle means, apertured piercing means carried by said handle means adaptable for perforating the cover of a container and for discharging the liquid contained therein therethrough, cover gripping means carried by said handle means, said cover gripping means including :1 prong reduced to the form of a narrow tooth located on a straight line extending from the apertured piercing means in the longitudinal direction of said handle means, and serving as a fulcrum for efiecting perforation of the cover by said piercing means in response to urging of said piercing means and of said gripping means by said handle means towards the top and the bottom parts, respectively, of the cover.

2. A device for tapping a pressurized liquid container comprising handle means, apertured piercing means carried by said handle means adaptable for perforating the cover of the container and for discharging the liquid contained therein therethrough, cover gripping means carried by said handle means, said cover gripping means including a prong reduced to the form of a narrow tooth lo cated on a straight line extending from the apertured piercing means in the longitudinal direction of said handle means, and serving as a fulcrum for effecting perforation of the cover by said piercing means in response to urging of said handle means towards the top and the bottom parts, of the cover, and means on said handle means for positionally adjusting said cover gripping means correlative to the diameter of the container cover to be tapped.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein said apertured piercing means comprises a trocar. 4.A'device according to claim S'Wher'einisaid cover gripping means comprises a prong, the gripping portion of which is reduced to the form of a narrow tooth, and

said'handle means comprises a singlelever upon one end of which said trocar is fixed, and at an intermediate point of which said prong is fixed in such .a manner that the narrow tooth of said prongris located on a straight line extending from the trocar to the apposed end of said lever.

'5. A device for tapping a pressurized liquid container comprising handle means, an apertured piercing member carried by said handle means, a prong carried by said handle means in the same vertical plane as said piercing member, said prong being adapted to engage the peripheral underside of the'container cover at a single point of contact, said piercing member and prong coacting to efiect perforation of the cover in response to an initial urging of said handle means and to effect removal of the cover in response to additional urging of said handle means, a resilient washerarranged on said apertured member, and coasting serrated means on said handle means for positionally adjusting said prong correlative to the dimensions of the container cover to be tapped. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Martin Feb. 29, 1876 Germany Mar. 2, 1915 

